Conservative activists seeking to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance trumpeted a small victory Thursday when a court hearing resulted in the ordinance being suspended pending an Aug. 15 hearing.

Mayor Annise Parker, anticipating a lawsuit, had already said she would not enforce the ordinance until there was more legal clarity, but plaintiff and conservative activist Jared Woodfill said Thursday's result was important.

"I think it makes a big difference because now you have a court order saying you can't enforce it, even if you change your mind and you wanted to," Woodfill said.

Woodfill characterized the suspension as having been ordered by visiting State District Judge Jeff Shadwick, a suggestion that prompted a chuckle from City Attorney David Feldman.

"This is not the judge ordering us, this is the city stipulating that it would not enforce, consistent with the mayor's public representation," he said.

Opponents had sought an injunction to force the city to block the ordinance and trigger the process of placing a repeal vote on the November ballot.

The court development followed a Thursday morning decision by a federal judge - to whom city attorneys had transferred the lawsuit - to kick the fight back to state court. Foes had called the move to federal court a delay tactic.

Woodfill and three others sued Parker and city officials on Tuesday, a day after Feldman announced the ordinance foes had failed to gather enough valid signatures to force a repeal referendum.

The opponents' suit claims Feldman illegally inserted himself into the petition verification process, throwing out entire pages of signatures based on notary and signature-gathering mistakes.

City Council approved the ordinance in May, banning discrimination among businesses that serve the public, private employers, in-housing and in-city employment and city contracting. Religious institutions are exempt.

Opponents disliked protections extended to gay and transgender residents, groups not already protected under federal discrimination laws, and promised to send the issue to the voters.

On July 3, they delivered what they said was more than 50,000 signatures to the city secretary's office, but Feldman and Parker on Monday announced the petition was 2,000 valid signatures short of the 17,269-signature threshold needed to force a vote after most of the pages contained mistakes that invalidated the entire page of signatures.